Gold continues to be steady ahead of US President Trump’s speech later in the day and amid lackluster economic reports.

#Commodities #Commodity #dollar #donaldtrump #economicdata #Fedofficials #FinanceBrokerage #Gold #JobsData #spotgold #trump #USPresident

#China’s economy expanded by 6.7% in Q3 of 2016, as it did in the previous 2 quarters. As China is set to release Q4 GDP figures on Jan. 20, China’s economic growth looks right on track to hit the government’s target growth rate of no less than 6.5% for the full year. But China’s northeastern #Liaoning province, which relies on steel production as its growth engine, had inflated its #GDP figures from 2011 to 2014, according to province governor Chen Qiufa on Jan. 17 in his annual work report. It is the first time the Chinese government has publicly admitted to faking official statistics at any level. Fiscal revenues were inflated by at least 20% during the period, and some other economic data were also made up.


#WorldEconomy #ChineseEconomy #Economy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicRisk #EconomicData
The Chinese government finally admitted that its economic data was made up
https://qz.com/887709/chinas-liaoning-province-admitted-that-it-inflated-gdp-figures-from-2011-to-2014/

#China’s National Bureau of Statistics released China’s 2016 headline growth figure on Friday (Jan 20). #GDP expanded 6.7%, making China one of the fastest-growing major economies last year.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics does not have a similar urge to inflate the figures. In fact, the agency is trying to cut its reliance on numbers reported by local government officials. Instead, it prefers to collect data directly. For instance, it has developed a system connected directly to 700,000 large enterprises to measure industrial activity and it has also given devices to officials across the country gathering information on prices for inflation data. All are intended to reduce the distortion from local government officials.


#WorldEconomy #ChineseEconomy #Economy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #EconomicRisk #EconomicData
Can you still trust China’s economic data after province admits cooking books?
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2063906/can-you-still-trust-chinas-economic-data-after-province-admits

A mixed bag of Chinese #economicdata this week has unnerved global markets and clouded the outlook for #China’s economic growth, days before the release of the country’s quarterly #GDP figures. Though China’s economy recorded its slowest growth in 25 years in 2015, it has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months, sustained by billions of dollars of government infrastructure projects and a spreading credit-fuelled housing boom. China is targeting GDP growth of 6.5 to 7% this year, after 6.9% last year.

#WorldEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicGrowth #Economy
Conflicting data blur China’s economic outlook
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/conflicting-data-blur-chinas-economic-outlook/article32360501/

One year ago, the #worldeconomy seemed hopelessly trapped in a cycle of low growth and inflation. Markets recoiled at the mere possibility that the Fed would raise interest rates. Populist political insurgencies seemed to threaten yet more financial market chaos. Now, interest rates and inflation forecasts have risen substantially from last winter’s lows; financial markets are shrugging off - or even rallying at the possibility of - imminent Fed rate increases; and it is all taking place during Donald J. Trump’s presidency.

Much of the buoyant optimism on Wall Street is driven by investors’ expectations of corporate tax cuts and deregulation under the #Trump administration. But there is also some real improvement in the economic data underneath the shifts, reflecting economic forces that have been underway for years. And this resetting of expectations is evident in market data beyond the always erratic stock market.A new survey of manufacturing supply managers showed the factory sector is expanding at a breakneck pace. Last August, that same index from the Institute for Supply Management was contracting. Those numbers followed positive readings on retail sales, industrial production and the job market.


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What Booming Markets Are Telling Us About the #GlobalEconomy
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/upshot/what-booming-markets-are-telling-us-about-the-global-economy.html